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• Madonna/Angelina Dichotomy: Why is Adoption Okay for One Star but not the Other?

  This is something I just don't get.  Why is it that Angelina Jolie is supposed to be a saint for adopting children from poor countries while Madonna is criticized for same? All the pros and cons of international adoption aside (it has well justified groups of both supporters and detractors), it seems that when Jolie swoops into a country and adopts a child, she is considered to be, well, some kind of Madonna, whereas when, er, Madonna goes to Malawi and Read More... Posted Mar 29 2009, 03:00 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 32 comment(s) Filed under: Malawi, Madonna, david banda, celebrity adoption, international adoptions, Shannon LC Cate, angelin jolie

• Something is Horribly Wrong in Adoption Land

  It's unbelievable how many hoops parents have to jump through to adopt a child. Applications, home studies, background checks. If it's a foreign adoption, there's even more: visas, endless paperwork, and always, money money money. Celebrities, however, seem to float right through the process on tiny butterfly wings. It may not be true, but that's our perception. But flouting the process isn't reserved for celebrities: like you I was sickened last week about reports of the Florida woman found to have horribly abused 11 adopted New York kids in her care. Read More... Posted Aug 09 2007, 07:24 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: adoption, child abuse, florida, New York, celebrity adoption

• Angelina Jolie Takes a Break to Be a SAHM

  Angelina Jolie is taking a break from her job so that she can stay home with Brad and the kids and be a full time mom. When Jolie finishes shooting "Wanted" she is going to take some time off. She wants to let Pax get better adjusted to his new life. It sounds completely reasonable. So why can't I stop rolling my eyes? Why to I love to hate Angelina Jolie? I stay at home with my kids. I respect other people who make the decision to stay at home to raise their children. I respect acting as an art form, so why do I just see Angelina going to the gym and screwing Brad Pitt while the nannies feed and bathe their children? I guess I am just a cynic. Angelina Jolie is probably a lovely person. Why can't I take her seriously? Oh yes, I remember. It is that she used to wear a vial of Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck as jewelry. Yes. Okay, I don't feel so bad about all that eye rolling now.  Posted May 23 2007, 01:59 PM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: angelina jolie, SAHMs, Brangelina, celebrity adoption, celebrity mommies, celeblrities

• Getting 'Knocked Up' Isn't in the Cards for Katherine Heigl

  Katherine Heigl does not want life to imitate art. The Grey's Anatomy star told USA Today that filming her new movie Knocked Up reinforced her belief that biological children are not for her, though she has not ruled out being a mama.  "I've always planned to adopt anyway, but that [delivery scene] definitely reinforced my want to. I'm done with the whole idea of having my own children. [It] doesn't seem like any fun. I don't think it's necessary to go through all of that." Katherine admits that, like many moms and child-free women alike, she gets really nervous if her period is even a day late.  "I've always been very, very careful... But there have been those moments where, if I'm just even half a day late, I'm like, 'What's going on?? Noooo!''" I think it's funny that filming a childbirth scene was traumatizing for Katherine.  If she can't handle a staged and well lit version of childbirth, complete with craft services and a director, well... then perhaps it's for the best.  Good to know ahead of time. [Via CBB]     Posted May 21 2007, 03:32 PM by Alisyn with | with no comments Filed under: pregnancy, adoption, Katherine Heigl, celebrity adoption

• Madonna and Guy On Rocks Over Adoption

  Remember how Madonna and Guy Ritchie said buying a baby helped their troubled marriage? That welcoming David Banda into their family had "given them a spark" and they were inspired to renew vows and plan a second honeymoon? Might want to book two rooms for that trip. Apparently the adoption kerfuffle created more problems than it solved. A source for News of the World said, "Guy thought it was ridiculous [Madonna] was going straight back to Malawi with a film crew. At first Guy thought it was a good idea. But then it turned into the Madonna show and he hated the way David's adoption was used to generate publicity." Get in line, Guy, get in line. Only we knew it was a bad idea from the start, because the Madonna show should only involve music and Gaultier. Here's a tip: when you plan to do anything involving a film crew, ask yourself, "Is this totally self-serving and gross?" If you aren't sure, ask yourself, "would I fund a movie about this if I wasn't in it?" Side note: shouldn't I so be therapist to the stars? Guy is also worried about having his directorial career overshadowed by she-who-we-liked-so-much-better-in-lingerie. I hate to drop a bombshell here, but it's a little too late to worry about that. You have to make a lot more movies and they have to be a lot more successful if you want your own separate identity. You may as well get "Mr. Madonna" on your driver's license.   According to the marital woe source, the couple still acts all unified in public and with the brood, but when they are alone they barely speak. I hope that's not the criteria for rocky, because I know about forty couples who qualify. Parents are just too tired to talk. Oh, but they also sleep in separate beds. Regularly. That sign... eh, not so good. Again with a side note: if you became rich and famous, which person in your life would become the source that spread all kinds of rumors about you? Oh, I know with celebs it's most often the publicist trying to keep 'em in the spotlight, but occasionally there's a real tidbit revealed by a resentful cash-strapped friend or relative. Do you ever wonder who would air your dirty laundry to the world in exchange for a couple bucks and a knockoff Prada keychain?       Posted May 09 2007, 08:34 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: Madonna, Guy Ritchie, celebrity parenting, celebrity adoption, marital problems

• Goran Visnjic Now a Daddy

  Goran Visnjic, who played Dr. Luka Kovac on ER, and his wife Ivana adopted a baby born at Cedars Sinai Medical Hospital on April 19. Yes, a celebrity actually went the local, rather than international adoption route. They named the baby Tin, after the famous Croatian poet. It's also a damn cute name. Ivana was present for the birth and cut the umbilical cord, but Goran stayed away to avoid the publicity. There's something kind of sad about having to miss the baby's birth due to paparazzi. Congratulations to the couple. By the time Goran joined ER, my interest in the show had seriously waned, but whoa baby, was he ever sexier than Noah Wylie. When Luka made his appearance, I remember thinking, "That man has some seriously hot nostrils." He had that tragic past, and had just come from a war zone, so he was all dark and broody and pained. Although I think by the time he showed up, County General Hospital had already seen more violence than most war zones. And that's just counting stabbings and shootings inside the ER itself. Um, is ER still on? So you know, Visnjic has done other stuff, like starring in the films The Deep End and The Peacemaker (with George Clooney, who he replaced on ER. Everybody, gather round for six degrees of Kevin Bacon!) And here's trivia for those of us who have only seen kid movies for an eternity now: he was the voice of Soto, the mean saber tooth from the movie, Ice Age. Yeah, that guy. Posted May 06 2007, 09:21 AM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: celebrity parents, celebrity adoption, Goran Visnjic, ER

• Environmentalist Daryl Hannah Believes in Locally Grown Babies

  Sort-of star Daryl Hannah says she is interested in adopting a baby, but she doesn’t want to go the same route as Madonna and Angelina and bring home a foreign orphan. “’There are more than half a million children here in the US who need to be adopted or need homes, so-called 'hard to adopt kids' because they're not babies and come from troubled backgrounds, so I think that's probably the way I'd go.’” Is this kind of free-thinking approach to the A-list adoption symptomatic of why Tarantino had to rescue her from obscurity? Somebody please clue her in to the fact that you don’t get to be a fawned-over celebrity ambassador when you raise a kid from your own country.   But getting a locally-produced child (perhaps from the farmer’s market?) may just be part of Hannah’s ardent environmentalism. She says many celebs consult with her on how to “go green”. Speaking like a PR robot, she says, "'A couple of days ago, I was at a party at Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas' house for Al Gore to celebrate his Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. Penelope Cruz and Leonardo DiCaprio were there and loads more stars. Melanie and Antonio's 10-year-old daughter Stella has convinced them to ‘green’ their houses, so I'm going to help them get solar power in their five homes and get their cars on biodiesel.'" Solar power for five homes, and getting multiple cars on biodiesel… Oh, those eco-stars! Thank goodness Hollywood celebs are setting an example by only using what they need and not grossly over-consuming our planet’s precious resources. Posted May 02 2007, 07:30 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: environment, green living, celebrity adoption